CONTROL PLANE

DATA PLANE

Control plane refers to
the all functions and processes that determine which path to use to send the
packet or frame.

Data plane refers to all
the functions and processes that forward packets/frames from one interface to
another based on control plane logic.

It is responsible for
building and maintaining the IP routing table.

It is responsible for
forwarding actual IP packet.

Control plane
responsible about how packets should be forwarded.

Data plane responsible
for moving packets from source to destination.

Control plane performs
its task independently.

Data plane performs its
task depending on Control plane.

In general we can say in
control plane it is learned what and how it can be done.

In general we can say in
data plane the actual task is performed based on what is learned.

Control plane packets
are processed by router to update the routing table.

The forwarding
plane/data plane forwards the packets based on the built logic of control
plane.

It includes Spanning
Tree Protocol (STP),
Address
Resolution Protocol (ARP),
Routing
Information Protocol (RIP), Dynamic
Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) etc.

It includes decrementing
Time To Live (TTL), recomputing
IP
header checksum etc.

Control plane packets
are locally originated by the router itself.

Data plane packets go
through the router.

Control plane acts as a
decision maker in data forwarding.

Data plane acts as a
decision implementer in data forwarding.

Routing is performed in
the control plane.

Switching is performed
in the data plane.